Food Trends. They come and they go!

For me, the convenience foods of the day came out of tins and packets. Tinned baked beans, spaghetti, tomatoes, soups etc and packets of fish fingers, rissoles, hamburgers, and fish cakes to name but a few. Oh, and packet potato was also a food trend of the day. It was called Smash and your Mom simply poured boiling water over the potato power to make instant mash potato. I think it's still around today, but I don't know anyone who uses it now.

Fads concerning what we eat come and go. Nowadays, there is a lot of concern about our over consumption of fast food and increasing obesity, diabetes and heart disease. It's especially worrying that children are getting less exercise and eating unhealthily. Food trends have for so long been associated with speed and convenience, but some new voices are beginning to be heard.

A recent development in the UK has seen the banning of commercials for snacks such as sugary breakfast cereal and potato chips to be shown during children's television programs. This follows the campaign by celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver to introduce more nutritious meals into schools. The campaign was successful in prompting the British Government to take action. Cooks in schools are being re-trained and the meals budget is being raised. Out with the French fries and in with vegetables.

But despite the buzz about the healthy eating trends there still seems to be a lot more talk than action. Sure, most folks are educated on what to eat and what not to eat, but with statistics reporting an increase, not a decrease, in both adult and child obesity, one can't help but wonder if healthy eating is really a trend or just a niche market for small groups of health conscious eaters. In actual fact, it seems that unhealthy eating trends still rule the day in many western societies. There appear to be far more fast food joints in the high streets than say vegetarian or vegan restaurants, and despite the so called organic food trends, these organic foods still occupy a small percentage of supermarket shelf space.

Ok, so everyone is super busy these days and it's tempting to pop a ready meal into the microwave at the end of a tiring day, but sadly, this means that parents are not passing on cooking skills to the next generation and cookery is getting squeezed out of the school curriculum too. Consequently, the growing generation doesn't know one end of a broccoli from the another.

Something has to be done, and it's an international problem. As the developing economies in Asia grow, more women are going out to work and their traditional shopping and cooking habits are changing. Many are going to supermarkets instead of to their local market stalls. It's already been reported that Japanese children are becoming overweight. In Western Europe, food trends are changing too. We all think of French and Italian families enjoying a leisurely meal cooked with fresh, local produce. They still do, but there are growing food trends toward processed food and ready meals, as people try to fit in work commitments with life at home.

It's true that organic food has become very popular over the last few years and it is more easily available than ten or twenty years ago. It's still more expensive than conventionally produced food though and blue collar workers tend not to be seduced by food trends which affect the weekly budget.

Some food obsessions seem comical to us now. Remember those dinner parties in the 1970s when we all huddled round the fondue? That was also the decade when we put everything on a little stick, like cubes of cheese and pineapple. We thought our food trends in the '70s made us so sophisticated.

There is a blossoming movement now called the Slow Food Movement. Its purpose is to persuade us to slow down and smell the coffee. Instead of speeding the process up, as with most food trends, the idea is to cook slowly and keep the flavor and goodness in. Rather than microwaving, slowly casserole or stew over a low heat. The aroma alone will be worth it. It's a throwback to our grandparent's time and one of the better food trends to emerge for some time.

Although there have been some huge developments and creativity in the vegetarian kitchen, I think that the vegetarian times have reached their peak. Sure, folks will always have their favorite vegetarian dish, but it will never become one of the food trends that catch on with the masses. We just enjoy our meats, fish, and poultry too much. As for vegan food, I think vegans will always be in a world of their own. Hmm! I wonder what the food trends of tomorrow will be